Atlanta, Ga. - Shorter College junior defenseman Sebastian Stihler earned Southern States Athletic Conference Defensive Player of the Year honors in addition to his SSAC first team selection to lead seven Hawks on the All-Conference teams as announced by the league offices on Friday morning.

Stihler was a dual threat for the Hawks in 2009, combining defensive prowess with offensive firepower to help Shorter to a 12-6-2 overall record.

The Mannheim, Germany native scored a career-high, 10 goals - fifth-best in the SSAC - and handed out three assists on his way to 23 points, the second-highest point total on the team.

Stihler notched two goals in a game on two different occasions and was devastatingly effective on free kick opportunities, scoring on four such chances during the season.

He was joined on the SSAC first team by senior midfielder John Calderwood, who also played a bit at right back for the Hawks in 2009.

Calderwood led the Hawks and ranked second in the SSAC with nine assists. He also posted a pair of goals.

Five Hawks were named to the All-SSAC second team, led by senior forward Kyle Timberlake, who enjoyed his best season at Shorter in 2009.

Timberlake's 12 goals led the team and ranked third in the conference. The 12 tallies are tied for the third-best single-season total in Shorter history and Timberlake's 21 career goals are second all-time.

The Dakar, Senegal native was also a tremendous facilitator, ranking second on the team with eight assists en route to a team-high 32 points. His 16 career assists also rank second all-time.

Beattie was arguably the most valuable member of the 2009 squad, playing both in the middle of field and on the flank and providing a much-needed level of consistency for the Hawks.

After a statistically slow start to the 2009 campaign, Beattie found the scorebook time and again in the latter stages of the season and finished with five goals and four assists, including a one goal, two assist performance in the Hawks' SSAC quarterfinal win over Brewton-Parker College.

O'Garro was a staple in the Hawks' back line, using his length and athleticism to challenge opposing strikers.

O'Garro notched four assists from the back in 2009 and now stands third all-time in that category with 13 helpers for his career.

Junior midfielder Elliott Livesey garnered second team honors after recording four goals and two assists in 2009. Livesey's steady and physical play in the center of the field was a key to the Hawks' success and his effective decision making and creativity created opportunities for an offense that led the SSAC in scoring during the regular season.

Rounding out the Hawks' second team choices was sophomore keeper Johnny Paletar, who registered a 9-3-2 record in goal for the Hawks with five shut outs, a mark that tied Shorter's single-season mark set by Thomas Fulton in 2006.

Paletar, a Bel Air, Md., native, posted a 0.92 goals against average and made 57 saves.